Gold medallist Hamilton shoulders heavy burden for KC

Kingston College's Yashawn Hamilton was always confident he would be on the medal podium for the long jump Class Two event this year.

Hamilton, a second year Class Two athlete, had to contest to 200 metres preliminaries at the same time he was competing in the long jump final. He will also be participate in the 100 metres.

However, the youngster, who won the event with a leap of 7.01 metres ahead of Excelsior High's Joel Morgan and Calabar High's Kristoffe Clifford, said he has to be mentally strong to perform and deliver the points he is expected to contribute to his school, who are depending heavily on his points to reclaim the Champs trophy.

"I wasn't surprised I won. I know I was a finalist last year so I just came out, did my best and ensure that I was on the medal podium," he said. "But I have to be mentally strong because I have a lot of events, so I didn't get to do the rest of my jumps. I don't know what would happen after those jumps because I had the 200 just after the third round (long jump).

"I have the 100 metres too, so I carry a lot of points for my team and I have to ensure that we win the Champs. I was expected to come third (long jump), but I went out and did my best and got gold. I was looking at 7.3 the least, so the jump wasn't my best, but I listened to my coach and did my best," he added.